Author and host of the hit OUTDOOR CHANNEL show SHOOTING GALLERY spouts off...

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Where's the Insider News?

Gosh, I don't know! I was talking to my friend Walt Rauch a couple of weeks ago, and he asked me the same thing. "Is anything going on?" he asked. "I don't hear anything." My answer was, neither do I. Part of this is the Dog Days of summer...most of the industry are starting to ramp up for SHOT..get the catalogs in production, hammer out the photography for brochures, etc. Plus most of the major players have been sitting on new products while the white-hot black rifel market burned itself out, followed by the traditional summer sales slump. A lot of what is be trumpeted as "new" are in fact previously announced products that are finally getting a place in the manufacturing queue.

It goes without saying that all of us in the industry have our favorites...some of that favoritism is based on hard, cold dollars — companies that spend a lot with our respective television shows or magazines tend to favor the people involved with that media. Sometimes it's based on people we've worked with for decades. I try really hard to reach out beyond my circle...why I spent time last week with Mossberg (not a sponsor), TASER (not a sponsor) and Springfield (not a sponsor). One of my best friends is an executive at Glock (not a sponsor), and we talk weekly. Same with lots of other executives.

In some cases, however, my "insider" status is a little too insider — I am under a series of non-disclose documents on new products or upcoming developments. Also, I'd like to point you toward the podcast...last week I talked about a meeting in Boise with the guys from Tactical Solutions, Primary Weapons Systems and MGM Targets talking about where we thought the industry was and where we're going...as a rule, I focus a lot of that kind of information on the podcast, a BEAST that MUST BE FED!

RE: Sig, I don't have a clue. There was a change in Sig marketing, but I made it a point of going to New Hampshire to meet with the new folks, talk to Sig Prez Ron Cohen and generally make sure they understood that at least on my side we still had a relationship.. We've all been very cordial at various trade shows, etc., yet I no longer even get press releases from Sig, much less T&E product. I've talked about the situation with my friend George Harris, head of the Sig Academy, and he's as puzzled as I am. I can only conclude that stuff indeed happens.

I've seen behavior like SIG elsewhere. Either management is process of changing (e.g. they are getting orders from overseas), the corporate entity is in process of being sold or they think that a relationship is potentially toxic.